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“Sixteen and a half. The sheriff and the doctor let me stay in the house.”

“Honey, that doesn’t make any sense. No social worker?”

“Neither of them was from our town. I made up an aunt who took care of me. They handled a lot of the little towns in our county, so they didn’t know or much care. As long as their problem was solved, they were happy. All I had to do was finish out school and keep up my grades.”

“Jesus.”

Jenny pushed against his hand, silently asking for a deeper touch. When she got it, she continued her story. “As soon as I could, I started applying for scholarships, grants and anything else I could think of to get out of Wyoming. I got accepted to the University of Colorado in Aurora, outside of Denver. I was eighteen, so I got a real estate agent to help me sell the house for extra money, and the rest is history.” She gave a half-hearted grin.

He moved her so that her legs bracketed his. She rested against his chest, and he could look her in the eye. “You are amazing.”

“Hardly.”

“Hand to God, you amaze me, Jenny Rivers.”

She cupped his cheeks and stared into his eyes, soaking up his words.

Oh my God. He’s telling me the truth. His truth.

“It’s only fair to tell you, you amaze me, Braxton Walker,” she whispered. “And do you know what else?”

His solemn look crept into a smile. “No, what?”

“You make me crazy, too.”

“I do?” His hands slipped under the back of her thin sweater, and she shivered.

“Oh yeah. Let’s see if I can make you crazy.” She let go of his cheeks and wiggled so that she could reach the bottom of his long-sleeve t-shirt.

She could.

Brax made it very easy for her to pull it over his head, and when she was done, she threw it over her shoulder.

Woof.

“Someone else wants to get in on the action,” Jenny giggled.

Brax frowned. “This is adult playtime, so it’s only you and me.” Somehow, by magic, he was able to stand up from the couch with her still in his arms.

“How’d you do that?”

“Lower and upper body strength.” With one hand under her ass, he hitched her up higher and walked them into his bedroom. He paused after they made it over the threshold. “Close the door, baby.”

Jenny did.

Brax walked them to the bed and lowered her to the mattress like precious cargo.

Every single time he thought he’d plumbed the depths of Jenny Rivers, he found out he was wrong. The woman had gone through more, survived more, and come up fighting. She had the soul of a warrior. And here she was in his bed, her arms reaching up for him.

Brax knew she loved him. She showed it in so many ways, and her heartfelt speech the first time they’d made love was definitely a declaration of love, but his woman was scared to death of loving someone and being let down. That was fine by him. He could live the rest of his life never hearing the words, as long as he had Jenny in his arms, in his bed, in his life.

He watched as she slowly undulated on his silver sheets.

“Why are you standing there? I thought we were going to play?”

“I’m just taking my time, figuring out my first move,” Brax answered.

“Like chess?”